Handwritten Lennon lyrics to be sold in NYC

In this undated photo released by Sotheby's Auction House in New York, one side of a handwritten, autographed manuscript by the late John Lennon is shown. The document, with the lyrics to "A Day in the Life," will be offered at auction by Sotheby's in New York on Friday, June 18, 2010. (AP Photo/Sotheby's Auction House)

NEW YORK -- For the right price, some lucky Beatlemaniac will be able to own the lyrics to the final song on the classic Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the Beatles classic "A Day in the Life" are being auctioned in June, Sotheby's announced on Thursday. The double-sided sheet of paper features Lennon's edits and corrections in his own hand -- in black felt marker and blue ball point pen, with a few annotations in red ink.

It is expected to fetch between $500,000 and $700,000 when it is sold in New York on June 18.

Rolling Stone magazine listed "A Day in the Life" at No. 26 in its compilation of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and "Sgt. Pepper" won four Grammy awards in 1968.

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The lyrics stirred controversy when the Beatles released the album in 1967. The song was banned by the BBC because it twice features the line, "I'd love to turn you on," which was interpreted as supporting illegal drug use. The song was also left off copies of "Sgt. Pepper's" sold in several Asian countries for the same reason.

The album's "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was alleged to have glorified the use of the hallucinogenic LSD, a claim that bandmembers denied.

In addition, "A Day in the Life" features the lyric "he blew his mind out in a car," which Beatles aficionados claim is a reference to the accidental death of Tara Browne, the Guinness heir and close friend of both Lennon and Paul McCartney.